Santa Maria, CA: how dark is the sky here?

Santa Maria's sky measures suburban here. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 56.3% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Santa Maria.

This comes from a satellite measuring light radiating upward, not a person's eyes on the ground, so it isn't the same as a Bortle class, though the two track each other closely.

How far Santa Maria is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Arroyo Grande, CA, roughly 15 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

Arroyo Grande, CA is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.

How Santa Maria compares nationally

Santa Maria, CA has a population of about 111,346, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Santa Maria places 1,794 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.